GI Appointment

We FINALLY got Clayton in to see a pediatric gastroenterologist on Wednesday. We were referred in late October when Clayton's reflux had been raging. Luckily we haven't had too much trouble with it since then, but our cardiologist really wanted to keep this appointment to discuss Clayton's weight. As far as the reflux goes, the doctor felt we were treating it appropriately, using Prevacid on and off, as needed.

As for Clayton's weight, the doctor wasn't as much concerned with his weight, as he was concerned with his height. It's no secret that Ryan and I are no giants, but we're not the shortest humans to walk the planet either. He didn't feel Clayton's low oxygen and other cardiac side effects would affect his height this drastically, meaning perhaps Clayton is just genetically going to be a really short person. He said we kind of have a "chicken or the egg" problem here. Is Clayton's weight low because he's so short, or is he so short because his weight is low? He doesn't think there is a hormone issue, as Clayton has demonstrated periods of vertical growth in the past, but that hasn't been 100% ruled out either.

He wanted to start with trying to put a little weight on Clayton to see if that would make him grow taller. He prescribed an appetite stimulant, which Clayton started yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, I didn't realize he'd prescribed a liquid solution. We switched to pills a long time ago because so many of Clayton's liquid meds tasted so bad, and they couldn't be flavored. This tastes terrible. In fact, another mom I know told me she gave one dose to her six year old, and he just started eating more to avoid having to take the med. She pulls it out every now and then and threatens him with it. Great. If Clayton can't stomach it in the next week or two, I'm going to call to see if they can prescribe it in pill form.

Anyway, to sum up, we're not sure if there is a problem or not, but the doctor has a few things he'd like to try to see if he can get Clayton growing a little. He also said that even short and skinny, Clayton is a healthy child. He's not malnourished. I know he sees a lot of hypoplastic left heart kids, and he said Clayton is the healthiest HLHS child he's seen. That meant a lot to me. I told him Clayton is our second HLHS child and that I know how healthy he really is. I just want Clayton to be happy and for him to have every opportunity to live as normal of a life as possible. We go back in 3 months.

Since starting the appetite stimulant:

Dinner: 3-4 bites of pizza
Breakfast: 1/2 kid sized yogurt, 1/4 c cereal with milk
Snack: 2 Tbs peanut butter (yes, he eats peanut butter straight, and I just let him because I'm a desperate woman), 1/4 graham cracker
Lunch: 3-4 bites of pizza

Maybe it just takes a few days to kick in???